Murilo de Carvalho
Universidade de São Paulo
Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Dear members of the Kennington Endowment,
I would like to express my great thanks for the unique opportunity that the
Kennington Endowment has provided me over the last ten weeks. Without the
support of the endowment I would have been unable to participate in the Research
Training Program of the National Museum of Natural History.
Although I had the opportunity to conduct some research at my home university,
the Universidade de São Paulo, coming to an institution such as the
Smithsonian, where many of the staff are committed to progress in diverse
fields of science, was a unique experience. During my time at the National
Museum of Natural History, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Richard
Vari and Dr. Stanley Weitzman, two of the most respected ichthyologists dealing
with problems involving South American freshwater fishes. The internship provided
me with the chance to discuss with them both many of the problems concerning
the systematics of catfishes of the family Loricariidae and to ask advice
about and discuss many other topics in Ichthyology. They made a number of
suggestions, based on their vast knowledge, that will undoubtedly be useful
as my career develops.
The specific research problem that I undertook under their guidance involved
the question of the diversity and phylogeny (evolutionary relationships) of
Hypostomus, a group of loricarid catfishes from the State of São
Paulo, Brazil. The results of this study together with information on the
historical geology of their region provide the first insight into the evolution
and biogeography of these fishes.
The summer internship was a very valuable experience. Not only did I acquire
a lot of information concerning an area of research that I intend to pursue
as a career, but I had a unique opportunity to meet different researchers,
learn about different fields with the natural sciences, and be exposed to
a diversity of opinions on a number of controversial topics of science.
Once again, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Kennington Endowment for providing the financial support that made this wonderful experience possible.
Sincerely,
Murilo de Carvalho
Research Training Program, 2002